Instagram Experiences Outage: #InstagramDown Causes Meme Storm on Twitter
Instagram faced an outage on Thursday morning, leaving thousands of users unable to access the app. According to outage tracking website Downdetector, over 27,000 users reported issues with the photo-sharing platform.[0] In response to the incident, many users took to Twitter to confirm the extent of the issue, resulting in a flood of memes using the hashtag #instagramdown.[1]
According to Downdetector, multiple nations have been impacted by the outage.[1] India, the UK, and Australia are the most severely impacted of these nations.[1] Reports of login difficulties have been received, and many individuals are unable to access the feed or upload pictures.[1]
Meta Platforms, Inc[2]’s Instagram said it’s resolved “technical issues” that disrupted the photo-sharing service for thousands of users around the world.[3] The platform was unavailable for several hours, causing much irritation for users who were unable to access it during that period.[4] The cause of this incident is unknown; it is not known if it was due to technical issues on Instagram's part or if it was caused by something else.[4]
Most users had the outage for around two hours until it dissipated, though some still experienced it.[5] The tech platform states that the technical difficulty has been rectified.[6] Confirmation of an outage on Instagram was given by the PR team's Twitter handle, Instagram Comms, citing it as a technical issue.
The disruption in service demonstrated how much many people rely on social media platforms and the distress users can feel when they are unable to access their accounts.[1] Twitter was flooded with witty responses and memes when Instagram went down, much to the amusement of many.[1] Twitter is abuzz with amusement over the Instagram outage.[7]
To fix the issue, Instagram recommends that users restart the app, log out and log back in, reinstall the app, or check for any pending updates.[7] If the problem persists, users can contact the Instagram Support team for further assistance.
It is still unclear what caused the outage or who may have been responsible. No official public statement has been made by Instagram regarding the outage.[8] In October, Instagram reported a bug on their Twitter feed that prevented users from accessing accounts and changed the amount of followers. This was the most recent service outage documented on their Twitter feed.[9]
0. ““Elon Musk says Hi”: Instagram was down but memes soared” Times of India, 9 Mar. 2023, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/humour/social-humour/elon-musk-says-hi-instagram-was-down-but-memes-soared/articleshow/98521304.cms
1. “#InstagramDown!! Instagram’s global outage sparks hilarious memefest on Twitter. See tweets” India TV News, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.indiatvnews.com/trending/news/instagram-down-global-outage-sparks-hilarious-memefest-on-twitter-memes-tweets-2023-03-09-853163
2. “Instagram Goes Down for Thousands of Users Around the World” Yahoo Finance Australia, 9 Mar. 2023, https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/instagram-goes-down-thousands-users-053041754.html
3. “Instagram was down and Internet was looking for answers on Twitter. See best memes” msnNOW, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/news/instagram-was-down-and-internet-was-looking-for-answers-on-twitter-see-best-memes/ar-AA18oDHM?li=AAggbRN
4. “Instagram down for thousands of users globally, service now restored” Business Today, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/instagram-down-for-thousands-of-users-globally-372693-2023-03-09
5. “Instagram goes down for thousands to Twitter users' delight” CyberNews.com, 9 Mar. 2023, https://cybernews.com/news/instagram-goes-down-for-thousands-twitter-users-delight/
6. “Meta's Instagram back up after brief global outage” CNA, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/metas-instagram-back-after-brief-global-outage-3336041
7. “Instagram down! Netizens take over Twitter to share hilarious memes” Hindustan Times, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/instagram-down-netizens-take-over-twitter-to-share-hilarious-memes-that-will-make-you-rofl-101678339328954.html
8. “Instagram suffers major outage” news.com.au, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/australian-users-unable-to-refresh-instagram-amid-outage/news-story/a033d84ea471b91f7d3c46167fee2429
9. “Instagram back after major global outage” 5 Dariya News, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.5dariyanews.com/news/406828-Instagram-back-after-major-global-outage
